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Isabeau of Bavaria (c. 1370–1435) became the queen of King Charles VI of France in 1385. She was born into the House of Wittelsbach, the eldest daughter of Duke Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Taddea Visconti of Milan. Isabeau was sent to France at age 15 or 16, where the young French king liked her enough to marry her three days after they met. Charles suffered from lifelong progressive mental illness from 1392, and was forced to temporarily withdraw from government. A 1393 masque or masquerade ball for one of Isabeau's ladies-in-waiting—an event later known as Bal des Ardents—ended in disaster with the King almost burning to death. Although he demanded Isabeau's removal from his presence during attacks of mental illness, he allowed her to act on his behalf. Charles' illness created a power vacuum that eventually led to the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War between the supporters of his brother, Louis of Orléans, and the royal dukes of Burgundy. Isabeau shifted allegiances between the factions, choosing courses she believed most favorable for the heir to the throne. She was present at the signing of the Treaty of Troyes in 1421, and lived in English-occupied Paris until her death in 1435. (Full article...)
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